Mobile refuse container assemblies are well known in sanitary maintenance applications. Typically such assemblies comprise a refuse container, round in transverse cross section, and a circular dolly which is attachable to the underside of the container by screw thread engagement. For example, U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 256,902 and 257,721 illustrate the dolly of the type conventionally used in a industry. Additionally, U.S. Design Pat. No. 260,229 illustrates a round refuse container which is adapted for screw thread attachment to the dolly.
While the above identified dolly and container combination works well and has been generally well accepted in the trade, certain shortcomings prevent the assembly from representing an ideal solution to the industries' needs. First, round refuse containers are not as volume efficient as square or rectangular cross-sectional refuse containers. Stated differently, a circular refuse container must have a diameter which is greater than the side of a square footprinted refuse container in order to contain the same volume of waste material. This volumetric inefficiency means that a round container takes up greater storage space than a square or rectangular container. Also, a round container cannot be stored flat against a wall, making it less than suitable for situations where storage space is limited.
Additionally, refuse containers typically have two handles extending from opposite sides of the container outwardly. Placing such a container against a flat wall, or abutting one container against another, can be prohibited due to interference caused by the handles. Handle interference prevents compact storage of the container against another surface, making less than optimal use of storage space.
Adaptation of conventional circular refuse containers to a square configuration however is not straight forward, since the refuse container must be connectable to a dolly component in order to be mobile. Most conveniently, moreover, the waste container should be connectable to a dolly by screw thread attachment. In the prior art, a waste container is provided with a centrally disposed cylindrical socket extending into an underside surface, which receives a cylindrical boss centrally disposed in the top surface of the dolly. The container cylindrical socket is internally threaded to receive the externally threaded dolly boss. In a circular configuration, merely screwing the dolly component into the socket of the waste container results in a satisfactory combination. However, for a square or rectangular footprinted dolly and container, attaching the dolly to the container by rotationally screwing it into the socket can result in a misalignment between the dolly and the waste container side walls.
Moreover, as discussed above, the handles of square refuse containers can interfere with each other, and with vertical walls, making the storage of such containers cumbersome, resulting in a less than optimal utilization of space. A second problem, created by the stacking of one square configured refuse containers within another, is the resultant outward flexure of the sidewalls of the underlying container. When a number of square refuse containers are stacked into one another, such as for display or shipment, a substantial amount of weight is brought to bear on the bottommost container's sidewalls. The lowermost container sidewalls have a tendency to flex outward. Over time, this flexure results in an outward bias of the container sidewalls, whereby preventing the lid for the container from fitting. Since refuse containers are relatively bulky items, it is imperative that they be able to be stacked in order to make optimal use of display or retail space, as well as to lower the cost of shipment.